Page 50 of Shadowing Bright
She nodded, and he left them.
A stately man, who looked to be close to sixty, in a dark blue suit with a white shirt, arrived and bowed toward Grandma.“Lady Frostclaw, it is an honour to see you in the city.”
“Oh, you will be seeing me more often if this works out.”Grandma grinned.“Now, have a seat, Normic.This is my grandson Emmers and the lady in question, Amhoran Balleran, banished daughter of the Icehorn clan.”
Normic smiled.“Why banished?”
“I stayed human too long.I gained my skills after the recent wave.”
Grandma was working on her phone.“Here you go.This is the photo set that I promised you.”
Normic’s phone pinged, and he pulled it out of the inner pocket of his jacket.He opened the message and started flicking through them.“These are all you?”
“Yes, sir.What is your clan?”
Normic mumbled, “Frostfire.Oh, you will make an excellent daughter of our house.And a fox.How cute!We would be delighted to offer you membership in our clan as my husband’s and my adopted daughter.It means meetings at least once a quarter.When we have formal events here in the city, we will expect you to make an appearance with or without the bear.”He didn’t look up.“I am sending this to Keel.He’s very keen on the idea of getting a powerful daughter with minimal effort.”
She blinked.“Just like that?”
“Just like that.Keel is using the office here to print the documentation that Lady Frostclaw has sent us and use that to fill out our own.You will have a clan and be able to walk the northern territories again the moment that they are ratified.So, by dessert.”
Grandma smiled as the coffee arrived.
The server tensed when he saw Normic, and he carefully set the cups just so.
Normic looked up and smiled.“You two have a connection?”
Emmers smiled.“I would certainly like to pursue one.”
Amy said weakly, “My lack of clan causing an issue later was my main concern.”
“Grandma works fast.”
Normic chuckled.“If you end up formalizing things, I would ask that you have the ceremony here.Keel loves weddings, and having our adopted daughter get married here would make him so happy.”
“Just like that?I mean, you are going to take me on just like that?”Amy looked at him with concern.
Normic put his hand out, and she put her fingers against his.He smiled.“Keel and I are unable to have children, and our busy occupations make us ineligible for adoption.Finding frost-based surrogates is impossible, so you are our daughter now.Any children you have will be our grandchildren and spoiled silly.”He smiled.“I am an arctic wolf, and he is a snowy owl.We will get you new clan identification and send you for photos.Oh, and we can get family photos done as well.Where do you work?”
“I am in admin at the XIA.”
“Was there much secondary education?”
“No, just enough to qualify.I was on my own, so it took a bit of effort to keep my head above water.”
Normic nodded.“If you want to continue in any field, feel free to do so.We will foot the bill.”
“Um, thank you?”
The desserts arrived, and several of them were set between Emmers and Amy.Grandma chuckled.“Those are for sharing.You might want to be quick, Vixen.Cookie likes sweets.”
Amy picked up her dessert spoon and stabbed the crème brûlée.The crack of sugar was hers.
Normic laughed and sipped at his coffee.
After making sure that Grandma had her own dessert, Amy played a tasting game with Emmers.She found that if she sighed and shivered, he stopped eating and stared, which gave her the chance to get a few more bites before he snapped out of it.
They went through the crème brûlée, a chocolate cake, and a series of cheesecakes that were in pretty rounds on the plate.When she was done, she leaned back and drank the hot coffee before switching to the iced.
